DeSantis says a census redo could be in works amid state redistricting wars

Yahoo

2 days ago

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis, maintaining that the last U.S. Census was 'flawed,' said Wednesday that the Trump administration was considering whether to approve a new census before the end of the decade — a move that that the Republican governor predicted could help Florida gain extra congressional seats.
DeSantis said he is already 'seriously' looking at asking the Florida Legislature to redraw the state's existing congressional map. Republicans already hold a 20-8 edge over Democrats.
Florida, like other states, normally redraws its congressional and legislative maps once a decade following the decennial U.S. Census. But with the House narrowly under GOP control, a plethora of both red and blue states are considering redrawing seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Texas, the nation's second largest state, is already embarking on a mid-decade redistricting that could result in Republicans picking up five additional seats.
Florida picked up an extra congressional seat after the last U.S. Census. DeSantis, however, has maintained that the census — which was largely conducted during the first Trump term with the results announced by President Joe Biden's administration — under-counted Florida, which he contends cost the state an additional House seat.
During remarks made at a Tampa roundtable on education, the governor said he was he 'told at the tail end of the [first] Trump administration that we were going to get at least two seats and so we were shocked when it came out.' DeSantis said he considered suing but ultimately decided against it. He said, however, he has had discussions with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and 'they agree that Florida did not get the population that it should have gotten.'
In his remarks he said 'I know they've considered doing another census,' and that if it's done that it would not include anyone who had entered the country illegally. The first Trump administration tried multiple times to find ways to exclude some immigrants from the 2020 apportionment count, but ultimately abandoned the idea after a U.S. Supreme Court loss and pandemic-related delays pushed the data release until after his term ended.
'I hope that they do redo the census, I think Florida would benefit if they redid the census. But even short of that I do think we are going to be looking at the pathways to be able do the redistricting here in Florida,' DeSantis said.
A completely new U.S. Census would be unprecedented and legally and logistically questionable; the Constitution mandates a census every ten years and non-citizens have never been excluded. But a theoretical mid-decade rerun of the census would likely benefit Florida, as the state has seen rapid growth since the Covid-19 pandemic, with people relocating from other states including New York, Illinois and even California.
The last census began in 2020 under Trump and the next is scheduled for 2030.
The White House and the Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to questions about DeSantis' comments.
DeSantis acknowledged that he has yet to personally discuss redistricting ideas with leaders of the Florida Legislature. He once had tremendous sway over lawmakers, but after his failed run for president has repeatedly clashed with top legislators, especially those in the Florida House.
Legislative leaders have so far been reticent to comment on DeSantis' suggestions to mount a redistricting effort. During the last go-round, DeSantis muscled through a map that helped Republicans pick up four seats that year.
That map was challenged in both federal and state courts with the Florida Supreme Court — which is dominated by DeSantis appointees — earlier just this month upholding the map. That ruling concluded that legislators could sidestep protections for minority voters first adopted by voters in 2010 as part of the 'Fair Districts' constitutional amendment.
DeSantis asserted on Wednesday that those protections were unconstitutional under federal law and likely 'unenforceable.' Last week the governor suggested that ruling could be used to reexamine other districts, including some in South Florida.
Democrats in Florida, however, have said they will fight back against any efforts to 'rig the system.' The state's Fair Districts amendment also prohibits drawing districts in a way that protects incumbents for partisan gain.
'Any mid-cycle redistricting would still need to comply with the rest of Fair Districts and would open us up to all new rounds of expensive state and federal litigation,' predicted state Rep. Fentrice Driskell, the House Democratic leader from Tampa.
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